hannibal_lector
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Ok, My first post!
I have a 55gal all-glass brand aquarium that I just carefully painted, the stand with ultra-gloss black enamel (over pre-sanded pine etc...) and the tank back spraypainted black because it looks a hell of alot better than those crappy tape on backgrounds
My questions are these...I did do a tang\liverock tank for a few months about 4 years ago but had to move and figured it would be too tramatic to deal with everything, havent used the tank since.
1) I want to do reef, with the minimal level of fish to keep everyone happy but the best selections. I thought some clownfish and the subsequent invertabrates would be good plus perhaps a tang\triggerfish (or both?)
2) I am pretty handy at DIY stuff and have used this tank and others (that I dont have anymore) many times. I want try building my own hood\lighting for coral etc...since I need to get a hood anyway, this is supposed to be the CLEANEST looking installation I can make it.
3) I need plumbing advice for the whole system! I plan to do a sump and house all the uglifiying equitment there but do not fully understand what I need to keep equilibrium in flow rates so that I dont end up with an empty tank! (and I'm very paranoid about failsafes for such an happening) The tank will be placed in the basement in a not yet furnished\truely cleaned up area (clean enough) so I can have a bunch of junk around and large sump even though I will obviously still want to cover it for a neat look.
4) Also plan on using a reverse Osmosis filter (3-4 stage) and am curious of the best way to permenently impliment it. ALSO curious to know if an aquarium rated RO filter can also be used to produce extremely pure drinking water since I wouldnt need it for just the aquarium 24/7. (I'm only asking because the aquarium ones dont have an fda rating so by some off chance there might be a reason to NOT drink the water...?)
5) I have used magnum and fluval filters and am interested in eheim as a replacement, or is that not needed? If one is using live rock then only mechanical filtration from a cheaper magnum canister is required? This is part of the confusion of the sump system but if thats the case then it appeals to me for its cost effectiveness.
Any reccomendations for the best tankmates in a reef setup are much appriciated, I liked my tang when I had him.
I have a 55gal all-glass brand aquarium that I just carefully painted, the stand with ultra-gloss black enamel (over pre-sanded pine etc...) and the tank back spraypainted black because it looks a hell of alot better than those crappy tape on backgrounds
My questions are these...I did do a tang\liverock tank for a few months about 4 years ago but had to move and figured it would be too tramatic to deal with everything, havent used the tank since.
1) I want to do reef, with the minimal level of fish to keep everyone happy but the best selections. I thought some clownfish and the subsequent invertabrates would be good plus perhaps a tang\triggerfish (or both?)
2) I am pretty handy at DIY stuff and have used this tank and others (that I dont have anymore) many times. I want try building my own hood\lighting for coral etc...since I need to get a hood anyway, this is supposed to be the CLEANEST looking installation I can make it.
3) I need plumbing advice for the whole system! I plan to do a sump and house all the uglifiying equitment there but do not fully understand what I need to keep equilibrium in flow rates so that I dont end up with an empty tank! (and I'm very paranoid about failsafes for such an happening) The tank will be placed in the basement in a not yet furnished\truely cleaned up area (clean enough) so I can have a bunch of junk around and large sump even though I will obviously still want to cover it for a neat look.
4) Also plan on using a reverse Osmosis filter (3-4 stage) and am curious of the best way to permenently impliment it. ALSO curious to know if an aquarium rated RO filter can also be used to produce extremely pure drinking water since I wouldnt need it for just the aquarium 24/7. (I'm only asking because the aquarium ones dont have an fda rating so by some off chance there might be a reason to NOT drink the water...?)
5) I have used magnum and fluval filters and am interested in eheim as a replacement, or is that not needed? If one is using live rock then only mechanical filtration from a cheaper magnum canister is required? This is part of the confusion of the sump system but if thats the case then it appeals to me for its cost effectiveness.
Any reccomendations for the best tankmates in a reef setup are much appriciated, I liked my tang when I had him.